I'll Protect You, Conan-kun
by Fae 206
Summary: Following a visit from Shinichii, the former highschool detective is too late to keep Ran from knowing his dual identity. Still, he doesn't know that Ran knows the truth and she's determined to leave it that way. Will she succeed or let her feelings of love and friendship take over? Will Conan be able to tell when she's lying and what will this lead to?
1. Chapter 1 - I Don't Want You To See This

**AN: **It'll probably take me some time to catch up in the manga so don't expect an update immediately. I do however love this series and especially this concept. The following chapters will be longer and there will be flashbacks of the case.

**I'll Protect You, Conan-kun**

**Chapter One – I Don't Want You to See This**

How long had it been since Ran had had a last moment like this? She knew that Shiniichi was ill and had been running after someone in black until he had exhausted himself. He kept talking about it. Man in black. People in black. Ran knew that he was talking to himself but she had overheard him. She was glad that he hadn't found them, they probably would have hurt him more. He was drenched in sweat and seemed to be jerking. Something must have happened.

"We should probably move," she suggested as she looked around. She had to train more. She had to become someone who she could trust.

"You need to…get out of…here," Shiniichi told her and Ran blinked but shook her head. She saw him attempting to get up, he was desperate in his actions but she didn't want him to leave. She wasn't sure what had happened to him after they had gone to the theme park but the men in black seemed to have something to do with that. "I need to go." He told her feeling a rush of fear through him. He was going to transform, the temporary antidote he had gotten was wearing off. He had to leave her. He would only cause her danger moving forwards.

"I'll let you leave," Ran told him and Shiniichi turned to her, he opened his mouth as he finally got himself ready to run. "Once you're feeling okay," she said and he looked torn.

He shook his head, "I'll be fine. You know I'll be fi-fine," he tried to wink. "I'm al-al-always fine."

He didn't look fine. He looked hurt and as if he would pass out at any moment. He was keeping himself far too busy and preoccupied with this case. She saw his nervousness as he opened the door to the room they were in in the office building. He looked at her again before bowing his head.

"I love you, Ran," he said before running and Ran stood wanting to go after him. She was tired of seeing him run away but it was as if she knew that this should happen. It was the way it always happened with him. Still, she loved him, she had loved him since they were children. He was always so cool with how much he cared and put energy into his work that she hadn't seen in years from her father before he suddenly started solving cases and wanted congratulations.

Still, moments after she had watched him go, she shook her head. She had been running early in the morning to build up her speed. She needed to follow him. As she ran she saw him fall down but something strange was happening to him. As he lost consciousness it was as if his body was getting smaller, weaker. She blinked as he crumpled onto the ground and she walked over to him. These clothes were far too big on him now.

She moved across until she could see his face. He had collapsed? As she lifted her chin she felt a rush of emotions. She felt betrayed, was angry with him, confused, disappointed but at the same time she was concerned, relieved that he had always been okay, and touched that he had always chosen to stay with her. She felt in his pocket for the glasses he had for when he changed back. Did he usually carry an item that would make her connect him with his other persona so easily.

Lifting his chin, she placed them on his face. He had his own reasons for not telling her and although she wanted to wake him and demand the truth, he must have had a choice and somehow she trusted him that he had picked wisely. She knew he loved her. She slowly moved 'Conan' onto her lap. She felt like an idiot for not trusting her own instincts.

Well. If he wanted to be Conan, she would let him be Conan for now. As Ran lifted him from the floor, pulling him to her chest, she saw his pants and underwear hit the ground. He still had the oversized shirt on but she was starting to feel that she was taking care of the person she had fallen in love with and all he had on was a shirt that was extremely large. She would have to get his Conan clothes on him. She blushed. That would require her to change him without his knowledge.

"I love you," she whispered as she let his tiny head rest on her shoulder, "You big deduction freak."

"Love you too, Ran-nee," he said as he slept. He had already changed his identity whilst he was sleeping. It made her sad. He had been pretending for so long though. She would have to find out why he had been lying to her but as for now she just had to get him safely home.

She folded up his clothes and put them in her bag, stuffing her bag until it would barely close. Even with finally finding out the truth, she still could see the old Shiniichi in his face. She could see the friend she had spent so much time with and learned to love and love so deeply that there was nothing that could stop it. Even this couldn't stop it.

She couldn't be romantic with Shiniichi in this manner, not unless he managed to get to his usual self again, but she was still his friend. It wasn't possible for her to be his girlfriend but she would trust in their friendship and one day he would return to her. She had faith that he would return to her.

"Let's get you home, Conan-kun," she laughed softly and he continued to sleep, giving a little smile as she carried him back. He wasn't heavy in her arms. She would just have to train more, practice more, learn new moves in order to protect him. Revealing that she knew might cause him to run and as Conan she was worried about where he would end up.

She smiled a little. He had never really had a chance to be a kid, he had always been too smart for that. Maybe this time he could have fun and enjoy himself. She would do her best to give him as much happiness as possible. "You're not leaving my side, right, Conan-kun?" she asked him playfully.

"Nah," he said waking up a little and not yet realizing what he was wearing. "Never, Ran-nee."

**End of Chapter One**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

**I hope I didn't screw up the characterization too badly**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Mystery

**AN: **Thank you so much for returning to this fic. I have to admit that I actually had forgotten a lot about this show and I'm trying to reread it but I might make stupid mistakes here and there. Still I really appreciate everyone who has read my fic and everyone returning to it now. Thank you 😊

**Chapter Two – The Mystery**

Ran looked over the small boy she had suspected for so long. He had always been so superior over her, always tried to say how smart he was and how nobody would be able to catch him and now he was here looking so innocently cute. Yet, every time she had heard from Shiniichi or even seen him in person, he appeared so sad. She knew he loved her and you wouldn't do this to people you love for no reason. She could imagine herself being in his situation and she'd want to be with him and have him protect her but she wouldn't be able to just pretend as if she didn't want to take revenge.

She sighed as she looked at the small boy. Conan. She had to train her mind that this boy was Conan, at least until he was able to tell her the entire truth. She felt stupid. She hadn't wanted to admit that she wasn't as smart as she believed that she was or that she could be fooled and tricked for such a long period of time. However, what would happen if he did find out that she knew? He wouldn't be able to continue being somebody else in front of her and she knew he would leave.

Despite how all of these cases got solved around him. Despite how she knew that he was now in possession of a lot of different gadgets and technologies that were alien to her. In size and stature he was only a little boy. He was a grade-schooler. Even the toughest grade schooler could be easily defeated. Yes, as much as it hurt, he wouldn't let her help her with this.

Ran moved to the bed where Conan was and she moved so that his head was resting on her lap. She very gently let her finger tips brush through his hair. He was sleeping so soundly that despite her need for an explanation, she wouldn't be able to wake him up.

_What can't you tell me? _She asked herself as she felt the tears gather in her eyes. _You never tell me the whole truth, is it that you don't trust me enough or that? _

Ran's eyes widened as she felt Conan clutch onto the side of her hand with his tiny one. Her eyes widened and she flashed back to when they were both children. She always had felt confident if he squeezed her hand. She had always loved knowing he was close by and thinking only of her. She looked him over and felt a few tears slide down, hitting the pillow near his head.

"You'll tell me sometime, right?" she whispered to him as she very gently kissed the top of his head. "I'll wait for you to tell me yourself." Ran looked him over again. She still loved him but like this that kind of a relationship was forbidden and she knew it. She would feel guilty just imagining him with any types of feelings like _those_. However, they were friends, they would always be friends. She sat there until he was deep enough in his sleep so that she could pull her hand away from his grasp.

She kissed his forehead again and tucked him back into the bed. She stood up and went to the hallway. She needed to take her mind away from the truth for right now because he was still here, he was still here and he didn't know that she knew, he was less likely to run if that was the case.

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Ran looked out the window at the street below as 'Conan' ate at the table with her father. She didn't feel hungry but that wasn't something that struck both men as unusual. Ran felt a tightening in her stomach. Yes, they were both men, she had to try to forget that. She kept seeing 'Conan' stealing glances at the newspaper that her father was reading. He had taken the page which was announcing the case that he had just solved whilst Conan had his hands on something else.

Of course, Shiniichi was intelligent to a point where she couldn't quite understand. He must have been bored to be treated like a kid. In fact, if Shiniichi had not had any chance of being in danger, he would have been licensing himself as a child detective and that money her father had been earning would have been going to him. For him to let someone else take all of the credit meant that something awful was happening.

"Ran?" Conan asked as he looked at her, "Why don't you eat with us?"

"That's okay," Ran smiled as she looked at him. She guessed that when Conan looked at her confused, she must have shown her suspicions on her face. He genuinely seemed to care about her and be worried about her but what did that mean? Had he been looking out for her all of this time as well like he had always done before? How could she be blind to all of this? "I'm not really -"

"I didn't think you'd look so good in your uniform last last year if you didn't lose some wei-" Kogoro said which was met by Ran throwing a book in his direction. She looked at her hands and clenched them before unclenching them. She shook her head and turned away. Tears filled her eyes and she went to sit on her own bed. Could she do this? Could she be the same Ran Mori she had been the previous morning?

As she sat on the bed, she heard a sound from the other side of the door and then a quiet knock. She knew that he was worried about her. She felt the tears coming down her face again but she tried to push them away. She walked to the door and then opened it, kneeling in front of Conan.

"Hi, guess that I was a little…emotional back there," she said and Conan looked at her cautiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked and Ran couldn't help herself but see him as Shiniichi just as she had told herself might be the wrong thing to do at a time like this. Reaching out for him, Ran pulled Conan into her arms.

"You're always such a sweet boy," she said, "Don't worry though. I think I just needed a break."

"Is this about Shinichi?" Conan asked and Ran pulled back. Was he really planning to torture her about this? Was she supposed to explain her heartbreak when it came to him to him when she didn't think that he would find out what she was saying to him.

She laughed and looked away, "Shinichi, that jerk, huh?" she joked. "Let's not think about him. Let's do something fun, like a soccer game, you like soccer right?" she asked. She wanted to use something that she knew about both of them. She wanted to enjoy spending time with her childhood friend without him figuring out what she knew.

"Yeah!" Conan said with a grin, "That sounds fun."

Ran nodded slowly. Maybe if she started to casually date somebody else this would get easier on her but she wasn't that manipulative. She wasn't ready to start dating someone else with the knowledge that she didn't want it to go anywhere and hurt the guy who would be her sacrificial lamb. She knew that it would push Conan off the trail for her to be interested in someone else but she could only imagine if their situations were reversed how much pain it would cause her for Shinichi's girlfriend to treat her like some random kid.

"It does, doesn't it?" Ran smiled before staring at him again. She had to figure out what to do with the situation before it pushed too far into a corner. Maybe there was someone who she could talk to. There had to be people who knew about Shinichi's condition. Most likely that was Dr. Agasa. Who else would be able to get their hands on all of that tech.

"Are you sure that you're not hungry?" Conan asked her and Ran smiled a little.

"Okay. I'll have some toast and then I'll find out the details for a game we can see together, okay?" she asked before trying to brush away the tears from her eyes. How could he do this to her? What didn't she know?

"So, you decided to eat," Kogoro told her with a raised eyebrow and Ran was about to throw something at him but decided not to. She had to ignore a lot that was happening in the house during these moments, she would have to ignore him as well. She kept looking over at Conan trying to balance her feelings. She had to admit though, it was very good to see him smiling at her. He looked like such a happy child. Had Shinichi ever taken a moment to _be_ a child?

_You're going to give me answers today, Doc. You're definitely not going to be forgiven easily for lying to me about this but maybe you can give me the answers that he won't._

Ran saw Conan smile at her and she smiled in return but she kept examining him. What was she not understanding about the situation? Well, she might not have the experience that he did but she could be a detective and right now her task was definite. What was this mystery behind Shinichi's condition and why was she not allowed to know about it?

"This toast tastes great," she said and saw Conan nod to her.

Yes. She would start to figure out those answers today.

**End of Chapter Two**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One

1 , Gisachi, Kabnondra, Smiley-Nami


	3. Chapter 3 - The Mysterious Spring

**Chapter Three – The Mysterious Spring**

It felt like a long time since she had spent more than a handful of hours with Shiniichi as himself. She truly missed him and now that she knew he had been there the whole time, she wanted to figure out what was going on. There were a number of places to start and a number of people who she could question but she couldn't trust them not to lie to her. This had been kept secret for months.

Maybe going back to where she had first lost sight of him would be good. The theme park had had a lot of couples attending it. She had hoped at the time that she would be part of a couple with Shiniichi, thinking about his current state, a relationship was out of the question for right now. Could she wait for him? She wanted to say that she could but it depended. She would want to wait if there was a chance he could grow up quickly or if he was open and honest with her. She wouldn't want to wait if he wasn't honest with her. If he chose not to tell her then she had to take that as him not wanting anything to do with her.

Looking around she looked at the time that the park was opened. It might be illegal but maybe it was easier to go in at dark when nobody was there. She looked at the notebook she had already started and put down the information. She might be able to get some information from someone who might have seen the young version of Shinichi here. Maybe there was some type of security camera she could take a look at. If she found out what was going on then she would be able to offer him more help.

"Why can't you just be honest?" she asked herself.

She sighed as she felt tears in her eyes. The things which she wanted to say to him would have to go unspoken. The things that he needed to know from her, would he even care about that? "Damn you!" she said as she kicked a rock and just went over how many times he had fooled her. She wanted to yell at him and tell him that she didn't care and all she wanted was to help him but that bonehead would choose to run.

She took a shaky breath in. His mother must know and his father and everyone in his life apart from her. Had he ever considered marrying her and them spending a life together. Even once was that the case? At least there were no other girls who knew his secret…aside from his mother. If he had some secret girlfriend then she wouldn't be able to deny the hurt.

"Why?" she whispered. "What are you so scared about?" she asked before feeling her mind leading her down that path of unanswerable questions. She wanted to hit something or someone but she had to pretend to not know anything. Maybe he didn't care if she figured it out or not. "Are you scared that I'll get hurt? You lying to me hurts me most."

"You should just leave that jerk be," a man who was a few years older than her came up to her and put his arm around her shoulder. Ran, immediately struck him in the face with her fist knocking him backward. "Feisty," he laughed as Ran turned and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that guy of yours is unwilling to be trained. I think I could learn to respect you."

"You really want to respect me, huh?" Ran asked. "Then don't treat girls as if you own them."

"You're saying that you're that guy's property. I hate those types of people. Those girls who just act like begging puppies. You should grow up…" he laughed. "Or grow down," he said and Ran stared at him. Had that been a threat? Who was this man, was it best to not turn him down right away. What did he mean by growing down? Did he know what had happened here all that time ago?

"I'm sorry," she said as she offered her his hand. "I shouldn't have been so aggressive. You're right," she said as she tried to act in a way where she could dig the information she desired out of him. If he had any clue what had happened to Shiniichi then he was worth her time. That was her main goal right now, finding the truth. "Here. Maybe you're right, I need to move on. Can you give me a chance?" she asked.

"Heh, cute girl like you, of course," he said and Ran smiled. She would have to make sure to keep herself alert and her reflexes quick. She smiled weakly as the man placed his hand on her butt but he didn't do anything else but cup it. He wasn't taking anything from her or inserting any weird medicine into her body. She looked to the side pretending not to notice it but it was grossing her out.

"What's your name?" the man asked and Ran coughed.

"Ra—chel," she said sweetly trying to hide her real identity just a little. "I'm going this way," she pointed and the man nodded.

"Let me accompany you then," he said and Ran nodded. She might be able to use him to at least make Shiniichi jealous and maybe if she made him jealous enough then he would confess to her. If she caused him as much pain as he had caused her then he might let it slip out. Of course, she would feel slimy doing it and feel that she was working against her moral principles but this was a situation which she hadn't been expecting. He never trusted her like she hoped that he would. "Name's Haru," he said and she nodded. Not for a second did she believe that was his real name.

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Conan rolled his eyes as he looked back at the building, the offices for the Mouri Detective Agency. He had heard something about someone from the shadow organization appearing in public and had wanted to track them down and find out if they had any new information he didn't know about yet. He laughed weakly as he looked at the sky. It was impossible to think that his plans would ever come true. He could trust Ran, he had trusted her with enough but the thought that she would turn him away and be disgusted with him were incredibly painful.

_Ran, I…I know that this might be upsetting but…I'm Shiniichi. I've been Shiniichi all the time. This small body, it's just an act. I can find you proof. I love you. _

_You're a kid, Conan. _

_No. I'm Shiniichi, I really am. I hate that I had to deceive you, you have to know how I feel about you by now. Don't make me beg. _

_You're a kid, Conan. _

"Conan," he heard someone say and looked up just as he was about to kick another stone into the road. His heart froze as he saw Ran there with some guy's hand on her butt. He blinked as he stared at them in shock. This man seemed to be familiar but he couldn't place him, what he really couldn't place though was how he was with Ran and why she was letting him be so friendly with her.

"Ran-nee," he said as he tried to hide the surprise and jealousy. "You're home early, right?"

"Keeping an eye on my schedule, huh?" Ran asked before gesturing to the man beside her. "Conan, this is Haru. Haru, this is Conan. Conan is just like my _little brother_." She said those words and Conan laughed. He didn't know why she was placing so much emphasis on those words. Who else could he be? He had been able to trick her so far.

"Yeah, I'm protective of Ran-nee," he smiled with a childish smile.

"He sure is _protective_ of me," Ran said and then blinked as Haru got down. Conan took a step back as this man started trying to sniff him. Shiniichi recognized this man. Haru had a heavy brown beard, narrow brown eyes, well defined eyebrows, and was wearing a black biker's jacket and leather pants with a lot of chains on them. "Are you trying to scare him, Haru-kun," she laughed and Conan felt his heart was beating faster.

He was about to pull away but Haru reached out and grabbed his arm, stretching it out. Conan shivered as he tried to pull away. "Hahaha," he laughed weakly. "This is a strange game," he told him and Haru reached out. It looked like he was about to slap Conan across the face but he just pushed his glasses off. Ran blinked. She already knew who Conan was, the disguise wasn't working on her anymore so the reveal didn't mean anything either.

"Haru, what are you doing?" she asked as she reached for the glasses. "Conan, I'm sorry. Come here, I'll carry you home," she said and then saw Conan push the man away and took a few deep breaths. Haru took out a syringe and vial. Was he doing testing?

Ran's eyes widened again and she looked at the shock on Conan's face as he stood there without his glasses on. She had wanted to mine for information that proved him wrong but this…she ran over to him and picked him up, handing him his glasses. "Conan, I'm sorry. Let's go home," she said.

She stared at Haru who was taking out a camera and Ran kicked a rock in his direction. She knew that Shiniichi probably had some super shoes or something or something that could break his camera but she felt guilty about this. She had pushed this man onto Conan for her own benefit. She put her hand on his head and helped him hide his face.

She panted as she got to the agency. She had led that man back here. She had given him information which he otherwise wouldn't have had. She paced a little. "Are you okay, Conan-kun?" she asked as she sat him down and knelt in front of him.

"I have to go away now," Conan said as he looked like he was about to hyperventilate. Ran bit her top lip. She pressed her lips onto his forehead.

"You don't need to go anywhere," she attempted to promise him but she wasn't sure if that was correct. All she knew was that there was no way that she should let him go off all by himself. Despite his tiny stature and kid like appearance, she still loved him. Hopefully the danger wasn't too great.

**End of Chapter Three**

**Thank you for reading**

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two

Gisachi, WhenStarsLie


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